Scorpions - Crazy World
- FaceOff - עימות חזיתי
- 1 hour ago
- 4 min read
Written By: Moti Kupfer
Album review - Scorpions - Crazy World
Release date - 6.11.1984
Record company - Vertigo, Mercury
Genre - Hard rock
"I follow the Moskva Down to Gorky Park Listening to the wind of change An August summer night
Soldiers passing by Listening to the wind of change"
August 1989 and in the capital of the USSR, Moscow, the heavy rock bands "Motley Crue", "Bon Jovi", and "Scorpions" gather for a two-day festival titled "Moscow Music Peace Festival"
The festival was dedicated to a non-profit organization that helps drug and alcohol addicts cope with their difficult situation. The festival, organized by American band manager Doc McGhee, and Russian rock musician Stas Namin, opened its doors to Western music for the first time to a Soviet audience.
Klaus Meine, lead singer of "Scorpions", recalls the special atmosphere that surrounded the festival: "We took the boat down the Moskva River, And we were on this boat with all the bands, with MTV journalists, with Red Army soldiers... It was an inspiring moment for me. It was like the whole world was in that one boat talking the same language: music."
Meine could not remain indifferent to the unprecedented sights he saw in the USSR. He felt that the world was at the threshold of a new era, an era of peace, an era of connections between East and West. Three months later, the Berlin Wall fell in East Germany, and at the very end of 1991, the policy of glasnost implemented by Mikhail Gorbachev caused the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Meine wrote one of the most important ballads of the early nineties, "Wind of Change", about that summer evening in Moscow in August 1989, a song that would become an anthem of peace, brotherhood, and friendship for the whole world. Together, and was released on the "Scorpions'" eleventh album, "Crazy World", which was released on November 6, 1990.
The "Scorpions" were formed in the German city of Hanover by guitarist Rudolf Schenker, who at that time performed the vocal duties. In 1970, his brother guitarist Michael Schenker and vocalist Klaus Meine joined.
Two years later (72), the band released their debut album "Lonesome Crow", which was influenced by the krautrock scene that was at its peak in Germany at the time.
The virtuoso abilities of the 16-year-old Michael Schenker did not go unnoticed by senior bands and he was offered to join the British rock band "UFO".
Following Schenker's departure, the band almost disbanded, but like a phoenix, it rose and took on a new form. Before leaving the "Scorpions", Michael Schenker asked guitarist Uli Jon Roth to take his place in the band. Later that year, in the summer of 1973, the two original members of the "Scorpions" - Rudolf Schenker and Klaus Meine - joined forces with The four members of "Dawn Road" - Uli Jon Roth's band, and thus one of the band's greatest lineups was established.
During the 1970s, "Scorpions" established their status as a classic heavy rock band, and became pioneers of the hard rock/heavymetal genre in Germany.
They reached the peak of their popularity in the mid-1980s after the release of the albums "Blackout" and "Love at First Sting", and immediately after with the successful "Love at First Sting tour".
Towards the end of the 1980s (88), their tenth album "Savage Amusement" was released, which was received with disappointment by long-time fans after the band moved away from classic heavy rock on this album and it was felt that it was overproduced, which caused the band to part ways with their long-time producer Dieter Dierks, who had produced all of "Scorpions" albums since "In Trance" released in 1975.
Dierks was replaced by the American producer Keith Olsen ("Fleetwood Mac", "Foreigner", Ozzy Osbourne) who returned the band to a heavier and less glamorous sound with strong rock songs full of harmony and melody such as the aggressive "Tease Me Please Me" with its virtuoso guitar work, the slightly calmer "Don't Believe Her", and two songs "Money and Fame" and "Crazy World" which are a kind of indictment against the modern society that worships profit-making.
Above all, the two eternal ballads "Send Me An Angel" shine, a song in which Klaus Meine wonders to himself whether he should listen to his inner voice and go on a mission despite the dangers involved.
And of course "Wind of Change", a fascinating investigation into which led to the question of whether the responsible for writing the song was actually the American CIA, which wanted to use it to push young Soviets to bring about change in their homeland, which ultimately did happen.
When Meine was asked about the theory, he replied with a smile, "It was pretty bizarre. And then I learned the story... the theory is a 'fascinating idea, and it's an entertaining idea, but it's not true at all". Is that true?
What was definitely true were the album's sales, which soared to seven million copies worldwide, undoubtedly their most successful album in terms of sales.
For Listening: Spotify, Apple Music